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Get your free copy13 March 2012, 09:31 AM
- Small business owners in Norfolk are becoming increasingly concerned about their future after a well-established butcher in the area shut down
KE Hutson, in Pakefield, near Lowestoft, blamed supermarkets and changing shopping habits for its closure.
The business was founded in 1947 and grew to 14 branches during its most successful trading period.
Cleeve Hutson, owner of KE Hutson, said, “Supermarkets are killing the small shop off. Younger people seem to prefer going to a supermarket to do all their shopping in one go. It’s just very sad that the traditional high street and its shops are disappearing.
“Britain used to be a nation of small shopkeepers but now it is becoming a nation of just very large shops.”
Nigel Dowdney, director of organisation Buy Local Norwich, said, “It is a sin that shops such as KE Hutson are disappearing because of the supermarket. It’s getting worse as they expand more and more into the convenience store trade – just look at Tesco Express.
“They are pushing their way into the high street – and it is not just the high street but shopping parades and suburbs as well. It is becoming a local monopoly,” he added.
